Travels Again
by Mystic Lover of the fairytale
Summary: Here it is the long awaited sequel to "Travels with the Doctor." AU of series 5 of Doctor Who ,where Luke travels with the Doctor along with Amy and Rory
1. Chapter 1

# Travels again # **A/N: So this is the sequel to *Travels with the Doctor* which I know people have been waiting for , also there is two chapters of the toddler sequel up if anyone is interested in reading and reviewing.**

* * *

Luke realised being handcuffed to a radiator was probably not the best way to spend a morning, but, then again, the whole day had been weird.

First the Doctor had regenerated, something Luke had never seen, but had heard stories from his mother who had recently died. The Doctor's regeneration had caused the TARDIS to go haywire, flying all over town and nearly crashing. Then, they'd landed- well, actually, crashed, really, in front of the garden of a little Scottish girl by the name of Amy.

Come to think of it, Luke could really see himself in Amy. She was brave, and determined, and very, very clever (not to mention stubborn). The Doctor'd promised to take Amy with them, and had promised her five minutes. Of course, with the Doctor being the Doctor, five minutes somehow became twelve whole years. To say Amy was angry was much of an understatement; she'd assumed Luke and the Doctor were intruders, and had promptly handcuffed them to the radiator. The nineteen-year-old was dressed in a police woman's uniform, her red hair pinned messily under a hat.

"We didn't break in," Luke tried to explain since, the Doctor seemed a bit preoccupied (well, if you could call whining about cricket bats and handcuffs preoccupied).

Amy looked skeptical, but did bend down to unlock Luke's handcuff, and he sighed in relief as the little silver latch clicked open.

"Thank you." Luke stood up.

"Oi! What about me?" The Doctor called, holding up his hand and waving it in a back-and-forth motion, looking dismayed.

Amy ignored him, and turned to Luke. "I remember you," she said, seriously, giving him an incredulous frown. "You came to my house, twelve years ago."

Luke nodded. "There was a crack in your wall." leaving Amy to ponder on that, more concerned about the Doctor, he walked over to the alien slumped next to the radiator.

"Where's your screwdriver?" he asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "Must've dropped it," he said.

Luke looked 'round, but he couldn't seem to find the sonic screwdriver. However, he did notice a door out of the corner of his eye, a door he was certain hadn't been there before.

"Amy, how many rooms are there in this hallway?" he asked, just to make sure of something.

"Five," Amy said promptly, and confidently.

"I count six rooms," Luke announced, turning to the Doctor. Of course, he knew the Doctor already knew there was another room in the hallway.

Amy couldn't see it because of a perception filter, he explained, and the only reason Luke could see it, too, was because he wasn't your average teenager.

The Doctor told Amy to count again, this time forcing her to look where she didn't want to; out of the corner of her eye. This time, she sounded a bit fearful as she counted six rooms.

A few minutes later the Doctor had retrieved his screwdriver, but it wasn't working. He shook it, looking very frustrated as he held it up to his ear. "Oh, what did the bad alien do to you?" he crooned, making Luke want to roll his eyes. There was an alien in Amy's house, who, by the way, happened to have been living there half her life, and he was preoccupied with a screwdriver. Sometimes...

Quite suddenly, the door crashed to the ground, and a man and a dog almost casually stepped out.

"Weird," Luke muttered to himself, though that wasn't nearly as weird as what happened next. The man began to bark, like a wild, rabid dog.

Amy gaped, eyes wide, turning to the Doctor. "What?" she asked, confused. "What?"

Luke piped up. "That's not normal, even I know that's not normal, Doctor, what's going on?" Luke asked, turning to the Doctor.

"That's Prisoner Zero," the Doctor replied. Luke remembered the crack in Amy's bedroom, and the warning about an escaped prisoner.

"Prisoner Zero is a man and dog?" Amy asked, frowning. "Oh, come on. Really?"

The Doctor scoffed, the lock unsnapping on the hand cuffs. "Prisoner Zero just took the shape of a man and dog."

He stood up, as a voice overhead announced a very, very ominous statement, indeed.

"PRISONER ZERO WILL VACATE THE HUMAN RESIDENCE, OR THE HUMAN RESIDENCE WILL BE INCINERATED!"

They ran down out of the stairs and into the garden, suddenly the Doctor stopped.

"That's a different shed," he said.

"Why does it matter?" Amy asked, making a face as the Doctor licked the wood.

"If anyone cares, Amy's house is in danger of being incinerated, and you two are arguing about sheds," Luke reminded them.

The Doctor and Amy ignored him, still arguing. "Why did you say ten months? That shed is at least twelve years old!"

Amy exploded. "Well, why did you say five minutes!"

They started running, well, Amy was fast walking, the Doctor hurrying to catch up, Luke behind them.

"Amelia Pond, you're Amelia Pond?" the Doctor asked, confused.

"It's Amy, now."

"I liked Amelia!"

"Bit too fairytale."

"You were a little girl five minutes ago!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Twelve years," Amy huffed.

"You hit me with a cricket bat!" the Doctor cried, wincing as the memory hit him nearly as hard as the cricket bat had, and clutching the back of his head with a hand.

Amy whirled around. "Twelve years, and four psychiatrists."

Luke caught up, overhearing Amy's remark. "Why four?" He asked curiously.

"I kept biting them," Amy said.

"Why?" Luke asked, pulling a face.

"They said the Doctor wasn't real." Amy told him. Luke nodded wondering what it would be like to have no one believe you about something you knew was true.

"It wasn't supposed to be twelve years, you know, the TARDIS was still a bit unsteady," Luke explained. "The Doctor's never been good at steering, he dropped my Mum in Aberdeen."

"So?" Amy looked confused.

"She lived in Croydon." Luke said.

*line break*

After establishing the human residence meant the earth, not Amy's house, they realised things were much more worse than they'd predicted, though Amy was still mad at the Doctor. However, they had other things to worry about, like the sun going dark as a shield was put in its place. Of course, unaware of the imminent danger, everyone had their mobiles out, aiming them at the sky, except one man in a nurse's uniform, he was taking a picture of the man and dog from earlier.

Luke pointed. "Doctor, look."

In a few minutes, the three of them were next to the man, who looked surprised, but also pleased when he saw Amy, then back to surprised when he saw the Doctor, and confused when he saw Luke.

"It's him... the raggedy doctor, and the ADHD kid," he sputtered.

"I don't have ADHD!" Luke said, confused.

"But he was pretend!" Rory exclaimed.

"Doctor, this is Rory, my boyfriend, this is um." Amy trailed off. "Oh, yeah, I remember, Luke."

"Man and dog, why?" The Doctor asked, grabbing the mobile off Rory, despite his protests.

"Because he isn't supposed to be there, he's in a hospital."

"In a coma." They finished together.

*line break*

While the Doctor was trying to get the intergalactic police to realise where Prisoner Zero was, or, rather, who he was. Amy, Luke, and Rory were at the hospital.

"So," Rory said, trying to make conversation, "You know Amy."

Luke nodded, and Rory continued. "And the Doctor, is he your Dad?"

"Kind of," Luke said, not going into any more detail. However, Amy's curiosity was piqued, but before she could ask, a woman and her daughters rounded the corner.

"Is he gone?" The mother asked. "There was a man and a dog, we hid in the ladies..." halfway through the speech, one of the girls started speaking, though she was still talking in the mother's voice. Amy and Rory both gaped, and Luke just winced, realizing what was happening.

"Oh, am I getting it wrong again? So many mouths," Prisoner Zero said. It was weird seeing a little girl talk in a grown ups voice, and all three opened their mouths, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

"Run!" Luke shouted. Amy and Rory took off behind him. They ran into an empty room. Luke took out his mobile, and dialed the Doctor.

"Where are you?" The Doctor asked.

Luke looked around, "Um, second floor."

"Tell Amy and Rory to duck."

Luke pocketed the phone. "Doctor says duck." They ducked down, as a fire engine ladder crashed through the window and the Doctor called across, he jumped down onto the floor.

"Who da man!" He gloated.

No one answered.

"Okay, never saying that again."

"Doctor, Prisoner Zero is in the hospital," Luke said.

"There's a Prisoner Zero, too?!" Rory sounded surprised.

The door banged open, and the woman and her girls came in.

The Doctor tried to get the alien to give up, but it thought that was a stupid idea.

"The Atraxi will kill me this time, but if I'm in another body, they'll never find me."

The Doctor scoffed. "It takes years to get a perfect imprint."

The woman sneered. "And I've had twelve."

Amy collapsed and Luke and Rory rushed to her side as Prisoner Zero took another form, the Doctor.

"Well, that's rubbish, who's that supposed to be?" The Doctor asked.

Luke looked up. "You."

"How can he not know what he looks like?" Rory asked Luke.

"He changes his appearance, it's been a weird day," Luke shrugged.

But it wasn't the Doctor Prisoner Zero was taking the form of, but Amelia, the little girl that waited. And it would have worked, except Amy thought of Prisoner Zero's real form, a snake-like creature with rows of sharp teeth. Soon, the alien was being transported to the prison ship.

* * *

Luke was sitting on his bed, staring at the framed photo of Sarah Jane. It still hurt to think about her. He grabbed the stuffed owl, and went into the console room.

The Doctor looked up. For a minute, seeing Luke with Sarah Jane's stuffed owl brought back memories of a younger Sarah Jane.

"We should ask Amy if she wants to come with us, you did promise her." Luke pointed out.

The Doctor agreed that was a good plan, and set off for Leadworth.

* * *

**Scarlett and The Beast Below.**


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor sighed, pulling Amy back into the TARDIS by her leg. "Now do you believe me?" he asked.

"Your box is a spaceship," Amy said, frowning. "It's really, really a spaceship."

"I noticed that," Luke teased, watching the two of them from where he was seated a few feet away. His legs were curled up in a crisscross, and he was sitting by a half-eaten plate of cookies and a glass filled up to the 50% mark. (Luke just wasn't a glass half-full, glass half-empty person, he was a glass-at-50%-mark kind of person.)

"We are in space!" Amy cried, throwing her arms up, in cheer.

"I noticed that, too," Luke added, with a smirk.

"What are we breathing?" Amy inquired, stepping back onto the grating.

"I've extended the air shell. We're fine," the Doctor said.

Luke approached them, leaning over the edge and taking in some kind of a spaceship shaped like the United Kingdom. He frowned. "What's that?"

"It's a spaceship," the Doctor explained, eyes twinkling. "This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship, that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and shopping. Searching the stars for a new home."

"Can we go out and see?" Amy asked, excited.

"Well, 'course we can. But first, there's a thing," the Doctor said, sounding a bit nervous.

"A thing?" Amy asked, frowning.

Even Luke was a bit confused. "What thing? The don't-shoot-the-TARDIS thing, or don't wander off thing?"

"An important thing. In fact, Thing One. We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets," the Doctor declared happily.

Luke raised his eyebrows, and the Doctor gave him innocent expression number 4, which usually meant to keep quiet and pretend he knew what was going on. Which he really, really didn't.

"So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah? Because if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it, they've got to keep filming and let it die. It's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that. Don't you find that hard, being all, like, detached and cold?" Amy asked, before pausing and noticing the Doctor on the scanner. "Doctor?" she asked, shocked, watching as he gestured for her to come with him.

.

"One little girl crying. So?" Amy asked.

"Crying silently. I mean, children cry because they want attention, because they're hurt or afraid. But when they cry silently, it's because they just can't stop. Any parent knows that," the Doctor explained. Luke read Amy's expression; it begged the question, who were either of them? Who was Luke Smith and what was he doing with the Doctor?

"Are you a parent?" Amy inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Hundreds of parents walking past who spot her and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about," the Doctor said, dodging Amy's question. "Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows, whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state."

"What are you going to do?" Luke asked.

"What I always do," the Doctor said. "Stay out of trouble." He hesitated. "Badly."

"So is this how it works, Doctor?" Amy asked, her laughter evident in her eyes and voice. "You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?"

"Pretty much," Luke said.

.

After bumping into the Phantom of the Opera- no, sorry, Princess Leia- no, sorry again, a woman in a mask studying glasses of water on the floor (similar to how the Doctor had). Luke and the Doctor'd found Amy. What'd happened next was so fast; one of those little smiling men machines in the booth had turned around, revealing a red, angry face, and then they'd fallen.

"Agrh!" the Doctor exclaimed. "High speed air cannon," he analysed. "Lousy way to travel," he added.

"Where are we?" Amy asked.

Luke shrugged. "Feels weird. And what's up with the ground, anyway?" he asked, tapping the ground.

"Yeah, the ground's all squishy, like a water bed," Amy commented.

"It's food refuse," the Doctor said. "Coming through from feeder tubes all over the ship."

"Sounds like Star Wars," Luke said, with a smirk. He paused, noticing the Doctor's aghast expression. "You know... Han Solo and everybody gets dumped into the waste place, and then the walls start to close in on them, and-"

"The walls are gonna close in on us?!" Amy panicked.

"You've been watching too much TV, both of you," the Doctor mumbled. "It's not a floor. Feel it."

"Yeah, I do, it's wet and slimy," Amy said, looking nervously around the room, rocking back and forth a bit on the balls of her feet.

"It's... not a floor," Luke realised, wincing. "Oh."

"The next word is kind of a scary word. You probably want to take a moment, get yourself in a calm place. Go ommmmm," the Doctor advised, eyes flicking back and forth.

"Ommmmm."

"Ommmmm."

"It's a tongue," the Doctor said.

A long, pregnant pause.

"A tongue?" Amy asked, incredulously.

"Yes, it's a tongue. A great... big... tongue," the Doctor finished.

"This is a mouth. This whole place is a mouth? We're in a mouth?" Amy panicked, her voice reaching a few octaves higher than it should have. "How do we get out?"

"How big is this beastie? It's gorgeous. Blimey, if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach. Though not right now," the Doctor said, wincing slightly.

"Doctor, how do we get out?" Amy repeated, her tone demanding.

"Okay, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is closed for business," the Doctor noted.

"Helpful," Luke sighed.

"We could try, though," Amy said.

"No, stop, don't move," the Doctor said, suddenly, as the floor began to slowly vibrate.

Luke swallowed, and closed his eyes.

.

After getting out of the mouth, whatever kind of creature it was, the Doctor wanted answers. Of course, who better to find at the moment than Liz (cough, Princess Leia)?

"The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry Twelve. Tea and scones with Liz Two. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day. And so much for the Virgin Queen, you bad, bad boy," she said, with a smirk.

"Liz Ten," the Doctor greeted her.

"Liz Ten, yeah. Elizabeth the Tenth," she said.

Luke froze, sensing something behind them.

"And down!" Elizabeth shouted, turning around. Everyone ducked immediately, and she shot the Smiler robots again.

"Whoa!" Luke exclaimed.

"I'm the bloody Queen, mate," Liz smirked. "Basically, I rule."

.

"Where are we, Doctor?" Luke asked, as the walked down into the room Liz had identified as the Tower.

"The lowest point of Starship UK. The dungeon," the Doctor explained.

"Ma'am," Hawthorne said, giving a little bow.

"Hawthorne. So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do," Liz scowled.

"There's children down here. What's all that about?" the Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow, and looking positively livid.

"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast. For some reason, it won't eat the children. You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky," Hawthorne smirked.

"Yeah, look at us. Torture chamber of the Tower of London. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Except it's not a torture chamber, is it?" Luke looked at the Doctor in surprise. "Well, except it is. Except it isn't. Depends on your angle." Sometimes, it scared Luke how casual the Doctor could be about some things.

"What's that?" Liz gasped, pointing towards some kind of brain in the centre of the room.

"Well, like I say, it depends on the angle. It's either the exposed pain centre of big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly," the Doctor explained. Luke winced.

"Or?" Liz pressed. Amy was pale, and Luke was shaking.

"Or it's the gas pedal, the accelerator. Starship UK's go faster button," the Doctor said, darkly.

"I don't understand," Liz said, shaking her head.

"Starship UK couldn't have flown," Luke realised. The Doctor nodded.

"The spaceship that could never fly," he agreed. "This poor, terrified creature. It's not infesting you, it's not invading, it's what you have instead of an engine. And this place down here is where you hurt it, where you torture it, day after day, just to keep it moving. Tell you what. Normally, it's above the range of human hearing. This is the sound none of you wanted to hear."

The Doctor dipped his hand into his pocket, retrieving his sonic screwdriver. Luke looked at him in question.

What greeted his ears was something he never wanted to hear again. It was the sound of misery, hopelessness, defeat, in the form of sound.

A tear slid down Luke's cheek.

"Stop it," Liz gasped. "Who did this?"

"We act on instructions from the highest authority," Hawthorne said simply.

"I am the highest authority. The creature will be released, now. I said, now! Is anyone listening to me?" Liz screamed.

"Liz," the Doctor said, hesitantly. "Your mask."

"What about my mask?" Liz asked.

"Look at it. It's old. At least two hundred years old, I'd say," the Doctor observed.

"Yeah? It's an antique. So?" Liz scoffed, raising her chin a bit higher.

"Yeah, an antique made by craftsmen over two hundred years ago and perfectly sculpted to your face. They slowed your body clock, all right, but you're not fifty. Nearer three hundred. And it's been a long old reign," the Doctor said, darkly.

"Nah, it's ten years. I've been on this throne ten years," Liz said, shifting her feet.

"Ten years. And the same ten years, over and over again, always leading you here," Luke realized, looking at the two buttons that sat by the screen. Forget and protest.

"What have you done?" Liz demanded, almost in horror, staring right at Hawthorne.

"Only what you have ordered. We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us," Hawthorne explained.

"If you are watching this. If I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower Of London. The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travellers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. And what we have done to it breaks my heart. The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the Star Whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the Forget button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision," the screen said.

"I voted for this," Amy gasped. "Why. Why would I do that?" she spun around, to face Luke and the Doctor, desperation lacing her every movement.

"Because you knew if we stayed here, I'd be faced with an impossible choice. Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save me from that. And that was wrong. You don't ever decide what I need to know," the Doctor said, through gritted teeth.

"Doctor," Luke said, wincing. "Don't blame her. She doesn't even remember she did it in the first place."

"She did it, and that is what counts," the Doctor rounded on them.

"I'm, I'm sorry," Amy said.

"Oh, I don't care," the Doctor hissed. "When I'm done here, you're going home."

"Doctor!" Luke shouted.

"Why?" Amy interrupted. "Because I made a mistake? One mistake? I don't even remember doing it!"

"Yeah, I know," the Doctor mumbled. "You're only human."

"What are you gonna do?" Luke asked, in horror, watching as he walked right towards the computer.

"The worst thing I'll ever do. I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable." Luke gasped. "The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it."

"That'll be like killing it," Amy said.

"I don't have a choice!" the Doctor shouted. "There are just three options. One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, because I won't be the Doctor any more," he finished, looking Luke in the eye.

"There must be something we can do, some other way," Amy insisted.

"Nobody talk to me. Nobody human has anything to say to me today!" the Doctor shouted.

There was a long, thick, heavy silence as the Doctor slowly continued working, and then Amy screamed two words.

"Doctor, stop!"

Luke nodded, finally realising what he needed to do. "Stop it now!"

"Sorry, Your Majesty," Amy said. "Going to need a hand."

"Amy, no! Luke!" the Doctor shouted.

With that, Amelia Pond grabbed Queen Elizabeth, took her hand, and slapped it down onto the Abdicate button.

And Starship UK began to tremble.

"Amy, what have you done?" the Doctor shouted.

"She fixed it," Luke said, smiling.

"Nothing at all, actually. Well, boys. Tell me. 'M I right?" she asked, smirking.

"We've increased speed," Hawthorne realised.

"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot. Got to help," Amy said confidently. The Doctor still looked as if someone had just slapped him across the face with a dead fish, or Captain Jack Harkness had just kissed him. Or maybe both.

"It's still here. I don't understand," Liz said, stunned.

"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn't have to trap it or torture it. That was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead. No future. What couldn't you do then? If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry," Amy explained, with a smile.

.

Amy was staying.

Luke was actually quite relieved. He rather liked Amy, and would've hated to see her go. It did take some pushing on his part, but he'd finally convinced the Doctor that Amy should be given a second chance.

Everyone deserved a second chance, anyway.

He pulled out an old composition book from one of his dresser drawers, looking at it, thoughtfully.

Then took out a pen and started to write.

* * *

_**AN: Hello! Scarlet Phlame here! I beta and cowrite for this story, and this was my chapter! If you enjoyed it, please leave feedback! Thank you, and Mystic's chapter will be up next!**_


	3. Chapter 3

# Time of Angels # **I skipped "Victory of the Daleks**

* * *

The Doctor hurried through the museum, Amy and Luke behind him.

"I love museums," the Doctor said, peering into a display case, and then frowning. "Wrong!" he shouted.

Luke was still getting used to this Doctor. He seemed more excitable than the previous regeneration.

"You have a time machine, why do you need museums?" Amy asked. The Doctor didn't answer, instead rushing to another display case.

"Wrong, definitely wrong!" he shouted.

Luke turned to Amy. "I think it's how he keeps score."

They joined him at the display case.

"Why's there a black box in a museum?" Luke asked, looking at the box, then at the Doctor.

"It's a homing device. They were used in Gallifreyan times to send messages to other Time lords," the Doctor said.

"What's that one say?" Amy asked.

"'Hello, Sweetie'." The Doctor looked embarrassed, for some reason that struck Luke as funny.

The Doctor broke the case and grabbed the box setting off the alarms, which got the attention of the guards.

"Come along, Pond, Smith!" They ran back towards the TARDIS, the guards behind them. Once inside, the Doctor hooked up the box to the console.

An image came onto the screen. A lady in an evening gown winked at the camera. Luke recognised her straight away. She was younger, but that was definitely River Song. She spoke into her wrist in a series of numbers

"What are those?" Amy asked as the Doctor pushed some buttons and Luke rushed to open the door, stepping out of the way as the Doctor reached for her hand. She landed on top of the Doctor.

"River," the Doctor sounded weary.

"Doctor?" Amy was confused.

River stood up, patting her hair. "Hello, Luke, thanks for opening the door." she turned to the Doctor. "Follow that ship."

River had hung her shoes on the brake and was at the console. The TARDIS shook and shuddered.

"Use the stabilizers," River instructed as the Doctor pushed and pulled levers.

"It doesn't have stabilizers." The Doctor groused.

"The blue things, the blue stabilizers." River pulled them down, and the TARDIS stopped shaking.

"Cool, I didn't know those were stabilizers." Luke said.

The Doctor looked put out. "No, they're boringers, blue boringers."

River ignored the remark. "And I've parked it right along side," she continued.

"No, you didn't," he argued.

"Yes, I did." River countered.

"It didn't make the noise." The Doctor said. "You know, the... wheergh. Wheergh," he continued, making the funny wheezing noise.

"It's not supposed to make that noise, you leave the brakes on." River scolded.

"Well, it's a brilliant noise, isn't it? Luke?" the Doctor asked.

Luke shrugged. "I guess."

"Environment check," River said. The Doctor opened the door and stuck his head out.

"It's nice out," he said.

While River checked the environment, Amy went over to Luke.

"Do those two know each other?" she asked.

"They've met," Luke nodded.

Amy nodded. "So why are you traveling with the Doctor? Where are your parents? The Doctor can't be your Dad, he's too young."

"He's older than he looks, and my Mum is dead." Luke said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Amy said. "So did your Dad die too?"

"I don't have a Dad," Luke said. Amy looked confused. "I wasn't born, I was created," Luke replied.

Amy looked even more confused, if that was possible. So Luke told her about the Bane and Bubble shock, everything up to the first time they met when she was just seven years old. As Amy listened, she realised it did answer a few questions, like why Luke seemed so smart in some ways, but also had a sort of innocent vulnerability about him.

*line break.*

They were on a planet. Amy managed to get the Doctor to let them explore the planet.

River was already there, Amy felt at a disadvantage.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" she asked.

"Right! River, Amy, Amy, Professor River Song," the Doctor said.

"Ooh, I'm going to be a professor! Spoilers," River sounded pleased.

"Why are we here?" Luke asked.

"A ship crashed here, we're trying to see what was inside," River told him. She held up a device.

"Doctor, can you sonic me?" she asked.

Amy simpered. "Ooh, Doctor, you soniced her," she teased.

Soon, they were joined by four men in army uniforms. The oldest looked at River.

"You promised me an army, Doctor Song," he said.

"No, I promised you an equivalent of an army," River corrected. The man didn't seem convinced, but didn't say anything, not even after he saw Luke who clearly looked too young to be in the midst of an important excavation. He just ordered his men into the cavern, the Doctor, River, Amy and Luke following, though the Doctor did try to get Luke and Amy to wait in the TARDIS, though he knew they wouldn't.

The cavern was set up with equipment, and Luke wandered around, looking at the equipment, while River was looking through a book and Amy talked to the Doctor.

"Mind you, don't touch anything, kid, this is sensitive equipment," one of the clerics said. Luke wrinkled his nose, he hated being treated like a child.

He found the others in a little room with a TV, there was a angel covering its eyes.

"What's that?" Luke asked.

"Weeping Angel. They're statues, until you stop looking," River said. "So the legend says."

"Not legend, quantum lock," the Doctor said, going on to explain about the Angels.

Soon River and the Doctor stepped out, leaving Amy and Luke alone.

Luke stared at the screen, the angel still had its back turned. Amy was looking around the little room. He turned to look behind him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Don't panic, but the doors are locked," Amy said.

Pause.

"You're not looking," she said.

Luke turned back to the screen, heart suddenly pounding. The Angel had moved. It had been facing away from them, but now it was facing him, eyes glaring menacingly.

"Amy?" Luke's voice was panic filled.

"It's all right, just keep looking at the statue," Amy said, trying to get the door opened.

It was an angel, a statue. Luke had faced down aliens before, so why did this one make him so scared? Eyes still glued to the screen, he felt around for the remote and pointed it at the screen, turning it off, but the screen switched back on.

"Luke, don't turn around, just listen, the Doctor says don't look at the eyes." Amy told him.

Not the eyes. Okay, he could do that. He concentrated on the clothes , that's when he noticed a blip, a small one, but hopefully it would be enough, he pointed the remote and counted to four, the angel froze, and the door opened, and River and the Doctor entered.

"You all right?" Amy asked.

Luke nodded shakily. "I think so."

He turned to the Doctor. "There was a blip, the angel froze, that was good, yes?"

River nodded. "Very clever. Wasn't it, Doctor?"

The Doctor seemed distracted. Luke was used to that, 'though his eye felt funny, like there was something in it. He rubbed his eye.

"You okay?" River asked.

He nodded, "I'm fine."

* * *

The cavern was damp and chilly. The entire place was filled with statues of dead Aplands, or so they thought. Luke was lagging behind. His eye still felt funny, and as he rubbed it, he felt sand on his hand. He pulled it away, panicking, as he stared at it. He hurried toward River and Amy.

River was injecting Amy with something, she turned to Luke.

"Your turn," she said, holding up the needle.

"What is it- ow!" he winced. He'd never been stuck with a needle before, and he didn't particularly like them.

"Helps against radiation," River said.

They heard gunshots and hurried towards the sound. One of the soldiers had fired at a statue, thinking it was an Angel. Father Octavian scolded him for panicking.

They continued on the Doctor chatting about the Aplandians. Luke was half-listening, though he heard the words "two heads". Filing it away in his head, that meant something, though he couldn't place his finger on it just yet.

"Ten," he said, the others looked at him questioningly. "What?" he asked.

"You said ten," River replied.

"No, I didn't," Luke shook his head.

They continued on, heading further and further up towards the wreckage. The Doctor was still going on about the Aplandians, that's when Luke put two and two together.

"Doctor these statues only have one head." Luke said.

"He's right," River told him.

The Doctor looked around. "I am so sorry, we've all been thick, we didn't notice."

"Luke did," Amy pointed out.

"Well, Luke is smarter than most kids, of course he noticed," the Doctor said, pride creeping into his voice.

He told everyone to go over to the far corner, and switch off their torches. The statues moved, they were definitely angels.

"Nine." Amy looked at Luke, but he didn't seem to notice what he had said, his attention on the angels.

*line break*

Now that they knew the statues were Angels, they had to be even more alert. Three of the clerics had been killed.

"You keep rubbing your eye and counting," Amy said, walking beside Luke.

"I think there's something in my eye," Luke said. River and the Doctor were up ahead, Father Octavian and his men further up.

Amy looked at his eye. "It looks fine, come on, let's catch them up."

She took his hand and they hurried towards the other.

The Doctor looked at them. "Everything okay?" He asked.

"There's something in my eye, it feels funny. Eight," Luke said.

"Why do you keep counting?" The Doctor asked.

"I'm not counting," Luke insisted.

"Yes you are," River pointed out.

The Doctor's device went off. It was Angel Bob, telling them the Angels had them surrounded, hoping to scare the Doctor, however, it didn't work.

"Trust me?" he turned to River and Amy, they nodded.

He didn't ask Luke, because he already knew the answer. He turned to Father Octavian and his men, they nodded.

"When I say jump, jump," the Doctor told them.

"Jump, jump where?" Father Octavian asked.

"Jump up, come on, Father, leap of faith," the Doctor said. He spoke into the comm device. "Oh, big, big mistake, really huge. Didn't anyone ever tell you there's one thing you never put in a trap, if you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there's one thing you never, ever put in a trap."

"And what would that be, sir?" Bob asked.

"Me," the Doctor said. Everyone jumped, unsure where they would end up.

* * *

**So ends "Time of Angels" Scarlett will be next with Flesh and Stone.**


	4. Chapter 4

Thankfully, after jumping, everyone ended up in a little tunnel. The Doctor rambled on about artificial gravity, and Octavian pointed out the statues looked like Angels.

The Doctor explained that they were feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, and restoring themselves. Luke shivered when he said that within an hour, they would be enough of an army.

Then one of the lights flickered out.

"Doctor?" Luke asked, trying to keep his tone calm. He knew these situations were best thought-out, and he did his best thinking calm.

"They're turning out the lights," the Doctor said grimly. "Everyone, look at the angels. Get into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you!"

"How?" Amy asked.

"Doctor!" Luke cried.

"It's just a corridor," the Doctor said calmly. "The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you. Don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move."

While the Doctor tinkered with a panel on the edge of the corridor, Octavian speculated. "The Angels. Presumably, they can jump up, too?"

With a snap, the hatch closed. Everyone stepped back a bit, everything steeped in a mixture of predominant light and darkness.

"They're here, now," the Doctor spoke grimly. "In the dark, we're finished."

"This whole place is a death trap!" Octavian exclaimed, just as the bulkhead closed.

"No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb," the Doctor said, frowning at the door, which had just closed. "And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic."

Silence.

"Oh, just me then. What's through here?"

"Secondary flight deck," River noted.

"Okay, so, we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, so what if the gravity fails?" Amy asked.

"Amy's got a point," Luke said. "We could fall."

"I've thought about it," the Doctor protested, frowning.

"And?" Luke imposed.

"And we'll all plunge to our deaths," he said simply. Luke let out a loud groan, wanting to bang his head against the wall. "See? I've thought about it. The security protocols are still live, and there's no way to override them. It's basically impossible."

"Nothing's impossible," Luke said, shaking his head. "Seven, hmm?"

"What?" the Doctor asked, blinking.

"Swell. I said, swell," Luke said, frowning.

"You're saying numbers. Why are you saying numbers?" the Doctor mumbled.

"I'm not saying anything!" Luke exclaimed.

The Doctor gave him a funny look. "Well, there's only one way to open this door. I guess I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control."

"Okay," Luke said.

"Including the lights," the Doctor added. "I'll have to turn out the lights."

Amy gulped. "How long?"

Luke regarded the angels down the corridor nervously.

"Fraction of a second, maybe longer, well, maybe a lot longer," the Doctor admitted.

"Maybe?" Luke shrieked.

"I'm guessing. We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship. There isn't a manual for this," the Doctor replied.

"There isn't any light," Luke pointed out.

"All right," Octavian grunted. "Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol. We don't have bullets to waste."

"Thank you," the Doctor breathed, before turning to instruct Amy. "Amy, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise four turns."

"Six," Luke clarified.

"No, four. Four turns," the Doctor said, frowning.

"Yeah, four. I heard you," Amy said.

"Sorry, just tired, 's all," Luke muttered.

"Ready!" the Doctor said.

And the lights cut out, the bulkhead opening.

"How are we going to get out, is there an exit?" Luke asked.

"No," Amy said, shaking her head. "Doesn't look like it."

"There is, 'course there is," the Doctor said, frowning.

"Of course!" Luke exclaimed, smacking his forehead.

"Of course what?" Amy asked.

"It's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up. There's clamps. Release the clamps," the Doctor instructed.

"What's through there? What do they need?" Amy asked.

"Oxygen," Luke explained, smiling. "It's a forest."

"An oxygen factory," River realised.

"And if we're lucky, it's an escape route!" the Doctor exclaimed, clapping his hands together.

"Doctor, there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck," Father Octavian said. "Plotting a safe path now."

The monitor buzzed. "Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir."

"Ah. There you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject," the Doctor joked.

"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve," Bob said, eerily. Luke grimaced.

"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?" the Doctor rambled.

"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world. and all the stars and worlds beyond," Bob gloated.

"Well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?" the Doctor joked.

"We have no need of comfy chairs," Bob rasped simply.

"I made him say comfy chairs!" the Doctor said childishly, causing Luke to roll his eyes.

"Six," he said.

"Okay, Bob, enough chat. Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Luke?"

The menace in his voice made Luke shudder a bit. He forgot how frightening the Doctor could be, sometimes.

"There is something in his eye," Angel Bob replied.

"What's in his eye?" the Doctor asked, slowly. "We are."

"Doctor, don't worry," Luke put off, nervously. "I'm five. I mean, five. Fine. Sorry, I meant to say fine."

"You're counting," River said. There was something, something in her tone that made him uneasy, as he blurted out one word of inquiry.

"Counting?"

"You're counting down from ten. You have been, for a couple of minutes," the Doctor said, gravely.

"Why?" Luke asked, scared. What did it mean?

"I don't know."

"Well, counting down to what?" Luke tried, as if it would offer some sort of consolation.

"I don't know. No, wait, there's something I've missed," he realised, looking up at the crack in the wall.

"That's, that's, that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl," Amy shrieked.

"Yes. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched," the Doctor said, looking at the crack gravely as they slowly stepped out back into the forest.

"Luke, what's wrong?" River asked, seeing Luke's terrified expression.

"Four," Luke said, sitting down on a tree trunk lying on the ground.

"Med scanner, now," River ordered.

"Bishop, the Angels are in the forest," the Doctor said.

"We need visual contact on every single line of approach," Octavian instructed.

"How did you get past them?" River asked.

"I found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe," the Doctor said.

"Well, what was it?" Luke asked, trying to keep his voice and head level.

"The end of the universe," the Doctor responded. "Let's have a look, then."

"Doctor, what's happening to me?" Luke asked, nervously.

"You're fine. Nothing's happening," River coaxed.

"You're dying," the Doctor blurted.

"Doctor!" River gasped.

"Yes, you're right. If we lie to him, Luke will get better."

Luke groaned at the sarcasm dripping in his tone, all the while still sitting on the trunk and shaking. "How? How am I dying? What happened?" he needed to know.

"You looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long, and-"

"The image of an angel is an angel," Amy realised.

The Doctor nodded. "The reflection. The angel got into your eye. We look at them, we don't even blink, and that is exactly what they need to get into your mind. And I'm sorry, Luke, I'm very sorry, but-"

"Three," Luke blurted, then closed his hands over his mouth. "Doctor. Doctor, I'm going to die. Can you fix me?"

"I'm thinking. Now, counting. What's that about? Bob, why are they making her count?" the Doctor spoke into the communicator.

"To scare you," Bob chirped cheerfully and the Doctor hurled the communicator onto the ground.

"Doctor, I trust you," Luke spoke. "Tell me what do I do?"

"Close your eyes," the Doctor instructed. "Starve the angel."

"Okay. I trust you, I trust you," Luke breathed.

And closed his eyes.

With a bleep, the medscanner changed from a bright red to a soft green, and River breathed a sigh of relief, mumbling under her breath.

"There are angels everywhere!" Octavian called.

"Luke, listen to me," the Doctor hissed. "Don't open your eyes. You cannot open your eyes for more than a second, we've used up your countdown."

Luke nodded. "Okay."

"Father, you and your Clerics, you're going to stay here, look after Luke. If anything happens to her, I'll hold every single one of you personally responsible, twice. River, Amy, and me, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is a quarter of a mile straight ahead, and from there we're going to stabilise the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Luke," the Doctor said.

"Doctor, can I come with you?" Luke pleaded.

"Stay here," the Doctor said, "you'll be safer, there are too many Angels in the forest."

Luke winced. He trusted the Doctor, but he was also very scared. Nervously, he bit out a response. "Okay."

"Good luck, everyone. Behave. Don't let Luke open his eyes," the Doctor instructed.

"Doctor," Luke said. "I remember that crack, it was the same crack in Amy's wall. How is it here?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm working it out. Now, listen. Remember what I told you when we met Amy for the first time?" the Doctor responded.

"What did you tell me?" Luke asked.

"No. No, that's not the point. You have to remember," the Doctor said.

"Remember what? Doctor? Doctor?" Luke cried, but there was no response.

Luke sat on the log, nervously. Crispin and Phillip and Pedro had gone to examine some sort of light, upon Marco's instruction.

Luke trusted the Doctor, he did, he really did. But sometimes, he wished the Doctor would come to trust him. The alien was about as closed as a door on deadlock seal, and talk about trust issues. Luke hardly knew the man. He'd thought he did, but that was when his hair was spiky. Right now, he was with a stranger with floppy hair and bright eyes. Sarah Jane- Mum- had said that he was still the same person, just different. It was like growing from a child into a teen.

Despite that, he had no clue who the man he was with was.

He'd seen darkness in him, when he'd first ranted off to that alien with the eye. He'd seen cheer and happiness, too, but he was scared of that darkness and didn't know what to do about it.

He turned to Marco (well, at least where he suspected he was), and spoke. "Can you turn me round so I face the light?"

"You can't open your eyes," Marco protested.

"I have at least until I count down to one, or zero, which gives me about a second," Luke told Marco. "I need to see it! Am I looking the right way?"

Marco sighed, and slowly turned Luke to face the light. "Yes."

Luke opened his eyes for what he calculated to be for 90 milliseconds, just enough for his eyes to change and see the light, and then he shut his eyes promptly, a sinking feeling in his heart.

It was the same as the crack in Amy's wall.

"Are Crispin and Phillip and Pedro back?" Luke asked, anxiously.

"Who?" Marco asked.

"You know, you sent them, to look at the crack," Luke said, confused.

"I didn't send anybody, I promise," Marco insisted.

"Something's happened," Luke panicked. "Something's made you forget. But... why?"

"There's only two of us here," Marco insisted.

"There were five of us."

"I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is. Don't worry, I won't get too close," he continued.

"Please don't go and leave me alone!" Luke cried, jumping a bit when something pressed into his hand.

"Here. Spare communicator. I'll stay in touch the whole time," Marco said.

"Something's taken them, and if you go it'll take you! Please, please don't go! Don't!" Luke begged. "What if an angel gets me?"

"Two minutes. I promise," Marco said.

And then Marco left.

Luke waited a minute. Then another.

"Hello?"

No response.

Marco was gone.

He panicked. "Marco? Marco, are you there?!"

"I'm here. I'm fine. Quite close to it now," Marco voiced.

Desperation laced Luke's voice. "You've seen it, please stop. Please, please stop. I don't want to be alone again! Marco? Marco?"

Dead.

The line was dead.

No response.

"Doctor!" Luke screamed. "Marco! Someone! Anybody!"

"Luke!" the voice on the other end relieved Luke, it had to be the Doctor at the worst time, the worst time ever. Of course he called when Marco just went to die.

"Doctor, something's taken the clerics," Luke said. "They walked into the light. And Marco, he forgot them." Tears were streaming down his face.

"Luke, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I should never have left you there," the Doctor said.

"What do I do?" Luke cried. "Tell me, Doctor, what do I do? Doctor?"

Something touched his shoulder, and he screamed.

"Don't open your eyes," River said. "You're on the Flight Deck. The Doctor's here. I teleported you. See? Told you I could get it working."

The Doctor said something about kissing River, and Luke made a face, not really catching her next remark as the alarm suddenly went off.

"What's happening, what is that alarm?" Luke asked, still concerned.

"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means the shield's going to release," the Doctor said, sounding actually quite a bit calm.

Luke couldn't see anything but darkness, and panic rose up, threatening to choke him as the Doctor spoke his next words.

"Angel Bob, I presume."

"The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality," a syrupy, heavy voice responded, one that sounded so cheerfully monotone that Luke wanted to let out a shriek. He presumed the voice to belong to none other than Angel Bob.

"Yeah, and look at you all, running away. What can I do for you?" the Doctor asked, maintaining his calm voice.

"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved," Bob said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?" the Doctor asked.

"Your friends will also be saved," Bob responded simply.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

"Well, there is that," the Doctor said.

The Doctor. The hero. What if he really was going to throw himself into that crack in space and time to save them? Luke didn't doubt him. He trusted him.

Trusted him to kill himself to save them all, pretty much.

That was such a Doctor thing to do. Him or the world, he'd pick him over the world any day. Luke knew why. He supposed it was because he felt as if he owed humanity something, probably because of that Time War thing. Mum had told him ages ago that the Doctor'd said all the Time Lords had died.

He was the last of the Time Lords.

Luke knew what a war of time would be like. Time travel, you could go back and do awful, awful things.

You don't survive a Time War because of something innocent. Whatever had happened with the Time War, when they'd died, Luke knew the Doctor, with his major guilt factor, would blame himself.

That was why he felt the obligation to go and save everyone he could. When it came down to it, the Doctor really, truly believed that he was less important.

"Doctor-" he started, but River cut him off, completely oblivious to the thoughts swirling through his head like a tornado.

"I've travelled in time. I'm a complicated space time event too. Throw me in," River offered.

"Oh, be serious. Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you, and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip," the Doctor said.

"Doctor, no," Luke blurted. "Don't."

"Doctor, he's right. I can't let you do this," River said, obviously panicked as well.

"No, seriously, get a grip," the Doctor said.

"You're not going to die here!" River cried.

"No, I mean it. River, Amy, Luke, get a grip," the Doctor ordered.

Luke felt hands guiding his own hands onto some sort of metal bar thing, as River chirped out, "Oh, you genius."

"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now," Luke heard Bob say.

"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship. Every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels."

Then the ship lurched and Luke held on for dear life.

.

Luke was back in the TARDIS, reading a book. They'd just said goodbye to River, although Luke suspected they would be seeing her again sometime.

She seemed just as complicated as the Doctor, if not more. She didn't have the immense pain behind her eyes like the Doctor did, but, in the same regards, he felt that emptiness near her, too. She felt different, like the Doctor did.

So that begged the question if she was really human or not.

He fingered the phone in his hands. He wanted to call his friends, but he didn't know what he would say. That he had just gotten up and ran since Mum died. Run off with a stranger who he'd hardly known. A stranger who, despite all their protests, would eventually live beyond Luke.

Luke knew he wouldn't survive this lifestyle forever. He'd seen how the Doctor was torn away from his friends and the people he loved, and he couldn't help but wonder. Wonder if that would be him, someday.

He'd really thought the Doctor was going to die back there. He'd really, really believed it.

Clutching the phone to his chest, he sighed, then put it down.

Best not to think about it.


	5. Chapter 5

# Vampires in Venice # *A/N : * **Ok,I know the 11th Doctor was from about 2010 to 2013 and in the SJA,Luke was at Oxford , but in this version everything Doctor Who is happening to coincide with series 1 and 2 of Sarah Jane Adventures**

* * *

"Where's the Doctor?" Amy asked coming into the TARDIS kitchen, which, obviously, was bigger than your average kitchen.

Luke looked up from his breakfast. "He said something about a jumping cake, pub, stag, and Rory. I think he's either going to give Rory a jumping cake, or jump out of a cake." He made a face, unsure of how anyone jumped out of a cake.

"Oh, he wouldn't, he couldn't, could he?" Amy looked horrified at the image of the Doctor jumping out of a huge cake at her fiancé's stag party.

Luke shrugged. "I think he can, and I think he will."

* * *

Isabella felt she was very lucky to get into Madame Calari's school. Well, she wasn't officially in, but her prospects at least were looking good. It was just her and her father, her mother had died when she was very young, and for the past sixteen years it had been just been the two of them.

Madame Calari agreed to take her into the school, 'though Isabella and her father had hoped for more time before their separate ways. However, she was saying goodbye sooner than she would have liked.

"Step into the light, my dear," Madame Calari said, the young man standing beside her circled around her.

"Tell me, Franscesca, do you like her?" she asked.

The man leered. "Oh yes, she'll do."

Isabella's world exploded in pain.

* * *

The Doctor had gone and gotten Rory. basically dragging him from his stag party. Now he was fiddling with the TARDIS and talking about some planet, Amy was pacing and looking nervous, Luke was sitting cross legged on the console floor watching the Doctor and reading.

Finally the Doctor was finished, he ran up the steps then back to Rory.

"I bet you're wondering why it's bigger on the inside, basically it's a.."

Rory interrupted him. "Transdimension, ever since Prisoner Zero, I've been reading up on the latest scientific phenomenon."

The Doctor looked upset, "I like when people say it's bigger on the inside, that's the best bit, I look forward to that."

"Where are we headed?" Amy asked.

The Doctor brightened, "I'm semding you guys someplace exciting, just one rule."

"You have too many rules, and you don't follow half of them," Luke muttered.

"Rules aren't meant to be followed all the time, Lukey-boy. Anyway, this is a good rule," the Doctor insisted. "It has to be somewhere exciting, anytime, anyplace, as long as it's exciting.

* * *

The Doctor opened the TARDIS door and stepped out. "Venice! Venicia, 'Impossible City', 'Preposterous city', founded by refugees fleeing from Attila the Hun."

He started walking, the others behind him. Suddenly, he stopped, looking at his watch.

"Good, 1580, Cassanova won't be born for another 145 years, don't want to run into him, I owe him a chicken."

"Why do you owe him a chicken?" Amy asked.

"It was a dare," was all the Doctor said.

They were stopped by a man at the gate, but were let through when he saw the Doctor's psychic papers.

"Why does it say I'm your eunuch?" Rory asked Amy.

"I'll explain later." Amy ran to catch up with the Doctor.

Rory looked at Luke,"She likes him, I mean, look at her face, how could I compete with him?"

Luke didn't understand relationships, but he knew Amy was in love with Rory, the Doctor was exciting true, but Rory was stable and could offer Amy something the Doctor couldn't.

"Then don't. She loves you," Luke said.

Amy and the Doctor were leaning against a railing, staring out across a magnificent building where a group of girls with veils and umbrellas had emerged. A man ran up to the girls lifting up veils, but instead of being startled they seemed angry, the whole time the man uttered one name.

"Isabella!"

"Wonder what's that about?" Amy asked, she turned to the Doctor, but he was gone.

"I hate when he does that," Amy muttered, taking off, Luke and Rory following. Luke wandered ahead while Amy and Rory joined a man leaning against a wall, just standing, but for some reason he gave Luke the chills. A pretty girl with a basket of flowers held a single flower out to the man. "Flower, signor?"

The man didn't answer and the girl started to walk past. Like lightning, the man grabbed the girl, pinning her against the wall. At first, Luke thought he was going to kiss her, but to his horror, he started biting her, and the girl screamed.

"Stop!"

The words were out before he realised he had spoken.

The man turned to look at him with such dead cold eyes and got up, heading toward him.

"You interrupted my meal, but no matter, I'll just drink you," the man said, advancing toward Luke.

Trying not to look at the two fangs, he walked backwards, hands searching for a weapon or anything he could use against whatever it was.

"Oi!" Amy yelled, "Leave him alone!"

The man hissed and ran off.

Amy turned to Luke. "You okay?" she asked.

"I think so, but there was a woman..." his voice trailed off.

"She's dead, Rory checked her," Amy said, "come on, let's go find them."

She reached for his hand.

The Doctor seemed giddy about something when they arrived.

"We saw a vampire, well, actually, Luke did, but vampires!" Amy squealed.

"I know!" The Doctor was jumping up and down.

"Excuse me, I nearly got bit," Luke pointed out, "so if you two could possibly stop being so excited."

"Sorry," they said contritely, as Rory joined them.

"I want you guys to meet a friend of mine," the Doctor said.

* * *

Trying to get into Madame Calari's school was going to be a challenge, and while the adults tried to figure out what to do, Luke realised the solution was so simple it was laughable.

"I have an idea," Luke said.

"No offence, but you are just a child," Guido replied, "how could you know what to do?"

"Use Amy, pretend she's a prospective student. She gets in and lets us in," Luke explained.

"Perfect idea," Amy said, but the Doctor and Rory protested.

"No, bad idea, it's too dangerous," Rory said.

"Or we could just blow the place up, I'm sure there's plenty of gunpowder," Luke said, snarkily motioning to the barrels behind Rory. He moved.

"It's a good idea, I'll be there three, four hours tops," Amy insisted.

"Look, you need someone on the inside to open the trap door, Amy is the only one, and, like she said, she won't be there that long."

The Doctor and Rory finally gave in. Rory was to pose as Amy's brother. When the time came for them to leave, the Doctor turned to Luke.

"Stay here," he said, "it's too dangerous."

He knew Luke wouldn't listen, and he didn't really expect him to either.

* * *

They were in.

"I have a light," Rory said, pulling out a torch.

"Well, I have this." The Doctor pulled out a torch that Luke swore looked like a lightsaber.

"Yours is bigger," Rory pouted.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Oh, we're not going there, let's go."

"Not going where?" Luke was confused.

Rory hurried to catch up to the Doctor, they were having a heated discussion about something. Luke was pretending not to listen, though he was listening. They rounded the corner, running into Amy and another girl that Luke presumed was Isabella.

However, they were trapped on both sides by vampire girls, Madame Calari, and her son.

"This rescue plan wasn't very well planned was it, Doctor?" Madame Calari asked.

"This way!" Isabella said leading them down a followed her down the corridor, the Doctor brandishing the torch every time the girls got to close. The light made them recoil back in terror. Finally, they made it (not without one snag, the Doctor being electrocuted). Though he was gathered back at Guido's house, the Doctor used his screwdriver to prepare the holes in Amy's neck, then popped something in her mouth.

"So what are those things, Doctor?" Rory asked.

"Vampires, right? They have to be," Amy said.

"Unless it's not," the Doctor said cryptically.

"If it's not a vampire..." Luke's voice trailed off as he tried not to imagine what could be worse than a vampire, unless it was an alien. "That's what it is, Doctor! An alien, they're aliens!"

"Luke's right, they're aliens, but what sort are they?" the Doctor asked.

"The flying kind, how are they doing is the second story." Luke pointed to the window, where several of the girls were floating in mid-air.

The Doctor pointed his screw driver at them, and instead of girls they were fish. Well, monster fish.

"What's happened to them?" Amy asked.

"The transformation is complete," the Doctor said.

"Ugh, that's put me off fish," Luke wrinkled his nose.

"I don't get it, why change the girls?" the Doctor said to himself. "She said she was going to repopulate the planet, you can't repopulate with just females."

Amy realised something. "She has blokes, at the bottom of the river, ten thousand husbands waiting for new wives."

"That takes arranged marriages to a whole new level," Luke said.

The glass broke and the girls- well, aliens flew in, and they ran out of the house as Guido blew up.

* * *

It started pouring rain, a huge downpour, Francesca was dead, blown to smithereens by Amy's compact.

"We need to find the Doctor!" Luke yelled over the pouring rain.

"Come on!" Amy grabbed Rory's hand and they ran toward the school, the Doctor was at the throne, however, it was no ordinary throne.

The room started shaking and they were thrown to the ground.

"What's going on?" Rory asked, standing up.

"Earthquakes. You change the earth's atmosphere, you're bound to get earthquakes, but you don't have to worry about those."

"Why not?" Luke asked.

"Because the tidal waves caused by the earthquakes will be much worse," the Doctor said. "So, tear out every wire smash everything, take a hammer to everything," the Doctor ordered them before running out. They followed him, watching as he scaled the building and the roof.

* * *

As quickly as it started, the deluge stopped, the sun came out, and the four of them headed back to the TARDIS.

"Just drop me off where you found me," Rory said.

"No, stay," Amy pleaded. "We want you to stay, don't we, you two?" she looked to the Doctor and Luke.

"Yep, but no snogging," Luke said, disappearing into the TARDIS.

Amy beamed. "Look at this, I got my spaceship, and my boys, my work is complete. I'll go put the kettle on."

"Um, we are not her boys," Rory said after Amy went into the TARDIS.

"Yeah, we are," the Doctor said, and Rory nodded.

"Yeah, we are."

* * *

**A/N: That is Vampires in Venice done with Scarlet next.**


	6. Chapter 6

# Amy's Choice # **A/N:This chapter will be written by both me and Scarlett, also if you have put this story in alerts or favorites reviews are greatly appreciated. ** *Disclaimer* *I own no one. Now I know in the original episode it was five years later,but for this segment it's been a year and a half.*

* * *

Amy stirred a bowl of cake mix. Maybe it was her pregnancy, but she couldn't get enough cakes, muffins, scones, or fairy cakes. The kitchen table was covered with baked goods. Rory would roll his eyes, saying Amy was going overboard, and teasing her, asking if she was trying to feed all of Leadworth.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain and gasped, doubling over.

"LUKE!" She cried as another wave of pain hit. The almost fifteen year old came running down the stairs. Sometimes Amy thought it was weird she and Rory had a foster kid just seven years younger than them.

"I'll get Rory," Luke said, hurrying out of the house. Luckily, Rory was coming up the drive. By the time they got back to the house, Amy was calmly eating batter from the bowl resting on her belly.

"False alarm," she said, a bit embarrassed, "I don't know how these things work."

Suddenly, in the background, there was a faint whishing sound. Amy stood up eyes wide, mouth open, "no."

Luke was already moving towards the door... that sound! It had been two years, but he knew what it was, only Rory seemed a bit slow on the uptake.

"I know, leaf blowers, use a rake!" He shouted to invisible gardeners.

Luke was already out the door. "It's not leaf blowers, it's the Doctor."

Rory ran out behind him just as the door opened, and the Doctor stepped out.

"Rory, I crushed your flowers," he said.

"Amy will kill you," Rory said good-naturedly. The Doctor turned to Luke.

"Lukey-boy, there's something different about you." He pulled out his screwdriver.

"I grew, Doctor," Luke said. Amy came out and the Doctor's eyes grew wide as he looked at Amy.

"You swallowed a planet!" he cried, giving her a hug.

"I'm pregnant," Amy pointed out.

"You're huge," the Doctor prattled.

"Still pregnant," Amy replied.

As if something clicked, the Doctor looked at Amy.

"Are you pregnant?" he asked.

* * *

They took a walk to the village, it was quiet.

The Doctor looked around. "Ah, Leadworth, vibrant as ever." he said.

"Actually, it's upper Leadworth, we've gone upmarket," Rory said.

The Doctor looked around. "Where is everyone?" He asked.

Amy shrugged. "This is busy. Well, it's quiet, but it's really restful, and the elderly live well into their 90's." They sat on a bench.

Luke spoke up. "Doctor, why are you here?" He asked curiously.

The Doctor was silent, before replying, "I wanted to see how you were. I don't just abandon people when they leave the TARDIS. This Time Lord's for life. You don't get rid of the Doctor so easily."

Amy rolled her eyes, "you came here by mistake."

"Yeah, pretty much," the Doctor admitted. "But, look at the result! Look at this... bench, what a nice bench, what will they think of next?"

They sat silently for a few minutes before the Doctor spoke up.

"What do you do to stave off, the you know..." he trailed off.

"Boredom?" Amy said.

"Self harm," the Doctor said.

"It's not _that_ boring... actually, it's a bit boring," Luke admitted.

"We relax, listen to birds, didn't do much of that in the good old TARDIS," Rory said.

Luke suddenly felt very sleepy. The birdsong was very hypnotic. He tried to fight it, but it was like walking through quicksand, his eyes grew heavy and he felt them slipping closed, his head resting on Amy's shoulder.

* * *

Luke didn't dream normally, so when he woke up he felt disoriented, and he went out to the console room. Apparently Amy, Rory and the Doctor had had the same dream.

"I don't understand, I don't dream," Luke pointed out. "

Never?" Rory looked surprised.

Luke shrugged, "It's not in my genetic makeup."

"Well, it was just a dream, nothing more," the Doctor said.

"If that was a dream, why do I still hear birdsong?" Amy asked.

"I hear it too," Luke said.

They woke up on the bench. Something was very wrong, though Luke couldn't put his finger on it. He looked at Amy and Rory neither of seemed to sense anything was amiss, though they both had confused looks on their faces.

"Doctor, why is this happening?" Amy asked. "Is it because of you, is it a Time Lord thing?"

Instead of answering, the Doctor looked at the three of them.

"Listen to me, trust nothing, nothing you feel, hear or see."

"I don't understand, we were dreaming before, at least I think it was a dream, but it feels weird," Luke said.

"But we're awake," Amy replied.

"Yes, you also thought you were dreaming on the TARDIS, so, Luke, Amy, Rory, which is the dreamworld and which is the real? Hold on tight, this is going to be a tricky one," the Doctor replied seriously.

* * *

Luke woke up. They were back in the TARDIS, the Doctor was at the console.

"This is real, right, it feels real," Luke asked, looking from the Doctor to Amy and Rory.

"Course it's real, it has to be real," Amy said.

"This is bad, really bad," the Doctor said, kicking the console, hurting his foot in the process. "Argh! Never use force unless you're angry, then use force."

"Shall I get the manual?" Amy asked helpfully.

"You have a manual?" Luke asked, he'd never seen the TARDIS manual.

"I threw it in a supernova," the Doctor said.

"That was dumb," Luke rolled his eyes.

"I disagreed with it," the Doctor replied. "Don't talk to me when I'm cross."

"So whatever is wrong with the TARDIS is making us dream, right?" Rory sat there listening to Amy, Rory and the Doctor argue over whether this was the real world or the dream world. Problem was both worlds felt real. The TARDIS grew dark suddenly, as if someone had shut off the TARDIS.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Luke asked.

"We're in a dead TARDIS," the Doctor said as birdsong filled the TARDIS.

* * *

They woke up in Leadworth, a group of children and their teacher filed past.

"This is real." Amy said. "It feels real."

"So did the TARDIS," the Doctor said. "It felt solid in the TARDIS too. You can't spot a dream while you're having it." He waved his fingers in front of his face.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Looking for motion blur or pixelation, this could be a computer simulation," the Doctor said.

They ended up in the old people's home. One of the residents had the Doctor try on a jumper. The familiar birdsong filled the air and they fell asleep. Only to wake up in a dark cold TARDIS. It was cold, the kind of cold that bit through your bones.

"It's bloody cold," Rory said.

"The heating's off," The Doctor replied.

"The heating's off?" Rory repeated.

"Go put on a jumper," the Doctor said, "that's what I do."

Luke could see his breath.

"Sorry about her, she's lovely though." Rory said.

"I wouldn't be fooled by her nice old lady act," the Doctor warned.

"Act?" Amy didn't know that everything was going to change.

* * *

* Scarlett next with part 2t*


	7. Chapter 7

_**Scarlet: This is my half of the chapter. :)**_

* * *

The Doctor groaned. "Everything's off, sensors, core power. We're drifting. The scanner's down so we can't even see out. We could be anywhere!" he ducked over the railing and walked back down to the console, fidgeting and fingering his suit. "Someone, something, is overriding my controls!"

Luke gasped when a man suddenly appeared in the centre of the room, cad in a bow tie and a tweed jacket nearly uniform to the Doctor's. The only difference was that his jacket was dark grey and he wore a bright red tie. He had sparse brownish hair and a smirk that made Luke uncomfortable.

"Well, that took a while," the man smirked, clangs echoing around the TARDIS as he clambered down the steps. "Honestly, I'd heard such good things. Last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm. Him in the bow tie." Luke watched warily as he motioned towards the Doctor in emphasis of the last statement.

"How did you get into my TARDIS? What are you?" the Doctor pressed, circling the man.

"What shall we call me? Well, if you're the Time Lord, let's call me the Dream Lord," the man replied with apt cheer.

"You look like the Doctor," Luke said, frowning.

The Dream Lord shrugged. "Bow ties?"

The Doctor threw something in his pocket at the Dream Lord, and Luke winced, eyes growing wide in confusion as the object passed right through the Dream Lord.

"Interesting," the Doctor commented, an unreadable expression on his face. "Luke, want to take a guess at what that is?"

"He said he was a Dream Lord, does that mean he's making us dream now?" Luke asked, frowning and pacing a bit.

"Yep," the Doctor said, popping the p. "Exactly."

"So, here's your challenge!" the Dream Lord said, clapping his hands together. "Two worlds. Here, in the time machine, and there, in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's fake. And just to make it more interesting you're going to face in both worlds a deadly danger. If you die in the dream, you wake up in the real world. If you die in reality..."

"What happens when we die in reality?" Rory asked, frowning.

"You die, stupid, that's why it's called reality," the Dream Lord crooned, smirking. "Now, then. Time to sleep."

The Dream Lord was the last thing Luke saw as he slumped over on the floor, fast asleep.

.

"Doctor, who is he?" Luke asked, following the Doctor as he walked outside to where the playground was. "Have you met him before?"

"Dunno. I get busy. It's a big universe, I lose track," the Doctor rambled, muttering each word.

"But how come he'd want to waste his time on us?" Luke asked, frowning. "Why should he care?"

"Maybe because he has no physical form. That gets you down after a while, so he's taking it out on folk like us who can touch and eat and feel," the Doctor said.

"What did you mean about Mrs Poggit's act?" Amy inquired, frowning.

"Yeah," Luke frowned, watching Mrs. Poggit walk towards the playground.

"I don't know about you, but I wouldn't hire Mrs Poggit as a babysitter," the Doctor agreed. "What's she doing? What does she want?"

.

"It's really cold," Amy said, rubbing her arms as the Doctor stared ahead blankly. "Have you got any warm clothing?"

"What does it matter if we're cold? We have to know what she is up to!" the Doctor snapped. He turned around, looking at the offended gaze Amy was giving him. "Sorry. Sorry. There should be some stuff down there, have a look."

Amy went down to the bottom of the TARDIS with Rory. The Doctor jumped down to the bottom of the TARDIS, rummaging through an old cabinet. Luke raised an eyebrow when the lock broke.

"Which one do you think is the dream?" Luke asked.

"Don't know. Got a bit caught up in it," the Doctor muttered, grabbing some kitchenware from the cabinet.

"Why have you got a mug?" Luke asked curiously.

"For stuff," the Doctor said.

"Is that an egg whisk," Luke wondered as the Doctor pulled golden egg whisk out of the cabinet. "or a Dalek's gun?"

The Doctor bonked Luke on the head with the whisk gently. "Very funny."

They climbed back up to the TARDIS, the item in the Doctor's hand already half-assembled.

"There we are! Do you mind winding this up for me, Luke, I'm going to attach this wire to the monitor," the Doctor said, thrusting the object into Luke's hands.

"Looks like a common electricity generator," Luke commented, eyeing the kitchen-y object.

"Oy! Get winding," the Doctor said, running over to the door and opening it just as the Ponds came up.

"Where are we?" Amy asked, looking at the monitor.

"We're in trouble," the Doctor said, staring outside. Luke looked in horror at the blue sphere outside.

"It's a cold sun," he said.

"Star. It's a cold star," the Doctor corrected. "That's why we're freezing. It's not a malfunction. We're drifting towards a cold sun. That's our danger for this version of reality."

"S' cold," Luke said, closing the door.

"This must be the dream. There is no such thing as a cold star. Stars burn," Amy said.

"So's this one. It's just burning cold," the Doctor said.

"Is that possible?" Rory wondered.

"I don't know, but there it is, and I'd say we've got about 14 minutes until we crash into it. But that's not a problem," the Doctor said, "because we'll have frozen to death by then."

.

They ended up back in the playground. Luke looked around, confused. There were piles of some kind of dust everywhere, along with some children's play toys and coats.

"Where's everyone?" Luke wondered. The Doctor ran ahead, ignoring him, fingering the dust.

Luke turned around, to find Rory and Amy arguing.

"You see, this is the real one. I just feel it. Don't you feel it?"

"I feel it both places," Amy said.

"Same here," Luke said, frowning.

"I feel it here. It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here," Rory said.

"But why would we ever leave the Doctor?" Luke wondered aloud.

"Kid's right. It's not really me, is it? Would I be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops and a really bad amateur dramatics society? That's why I got pregnant, so I don't have to see them doing Oklahoma," Amy rambled.

"Where are the kids?" Luke asked as the Doctor stumbled back into his vision.

"Play time's definitely over," the Doctor mumbled.

"Oh, my God," Amy said.

"What happened to them?" Luke asked.

"I think they did," the Doctor said, eyeing the elderly people across the street warily.

They approached the elderly people, the Doctor in the lead. "Hello. We were wondering where you went. To get reinforcements! Are you all right? You look a bit tense."

"Hello, Mr Nainby!" Rory said, waving at one of the people. Luke resisted the urge to smack himself in the head with his own hand.

"Rory..." the Doctor warned.

"Mr Nainby ran the sweet shop. He used to slip me the odd free toffee," Rory chuckled, just as Mr. Nainby lifted him up by the collar rather forcefully. "Did I not say thank you?!" he stuttered as Mr. Nainby threw him into the dirt.

"I suspect he's not himself. Don't get comfortable here. You may have to run. Fast," the Doctor said.

Amy groaned loudly. "Can't we just talk to them?!"

Mrs. Poggit opened her mouth suddenly, revealing a green, slimy-looking eye.

"Eew!" Luke said. "Oh, that's disgusting!"

"There is an eye in her mouth!" Amy gawked.

"I noticed," Luke muttered.

"There's a whole creature inside her. Inside all of them. They've been there for years, living and waiting," the Doctor analysed.

The eye sprayed some sort of green mist at them, and the Doctor shouted "RUN!"

Luke, Amy, and Rory did just that.

.

"The three of us have to agree, now, which is the dream!" the Doctor said, buttoning up his jacket with haste. Luke looked around, realising they'd woken up in the TARDIS.

"It's this, here," Rory said.

"He could be right. The science is all wrong here, burning ice," Amy suggested.

"No, no, no, ice can burn, sofas can read, it's a big universe. We have to agree which battle to lose. All of us, now," the Doctor said.

"I think it's the village," Luke said, frowning. "Or it could be this one. I don't know."

"OK, which world do you think is real?" Amy asked.

"This one," the Doctor said.

"No, the other one!" Rory insisted, running a hand through his thick hair.

"Yeah, but are we disagreeing, or competing?" the Doctor insisted, standing up.

"Competing over what?" Amy wondered, completely clueless, reaching over and throwing three ponchos at them, and grinning. "Here we go! My boys... my poncho boys. If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band."

"Our time's running out. If we fall asleep here, we're in trouble," the Doctor rambled, pacing back and forth on the TARDIS interior. "If we could divide up, then we'd have an active presence in each world, but the Dream Lord is switching us between the worlds. Why, why, what's the logic?"

"Good idea, veggie, let's divide you three up, so I can have a little chat with our lovely companions. Maybe I'll keep them, and you can have Pointy Nose to yourself for all eternity, should you manage to clamber aboard some sort of reality," the Dream Lord smirked.

"Can you hear that?" Rory asked, looking around.

"Hear what?!" Luke panicked.

"Amy, Luke, don't be scared, we'll be back," the Doctor said, nodding at the both of them as they fell asleep.

"Poor Amy. He always leaves you, doesn't he? Alone in the dark. Never apologises," the Dream Lord sneered.

"He doesn't have to," Amy insisted, briskly walking in the opposite direction. Luke trailed behind her, slipping his hand into hers and squeezing.

"We'll be okay," Luke said.

"Yeah. I know we will, kid," Amy said.

"That's good, because he never will. And now he's left you with me. Spooky old, not-to-be-trusted me. Anything could happen," the Dream Lord smirked.

Amy's grip on his hand tightened as she looked the Dream Lord right in the eyes. "Who are you and what do you want? The Doctor knows you, but he's not telling me who you are. And he always does. Takes him awhile sometimes, but he tells me. So you're something different," she said.

"Oh, is that who you think you are? The one he trusts?" the Dream Lord smirked.

"Actually, yes," Amy said, tone strong.

"The one girl in the universe to whom the Doctor tells everything?"

"Yes."

"So what's his name?" the Dream Lord inquired, slipping out of existence and fading away, before swiftly reappearing next to the Doctor. "Now, which one of these men would you really choose? Look at them. You ran away with a handsome hero. Would you really give him up for a bumbling country doctor who thinks the only thing he needs to be interesting is a ponytail?"

"Shut up," Luke snapped, patience bubbling over. "Stop it."

"You too, Luke," the Dream Lord said, smirking. "Does it ever make you wonder, hmm?"

"Wonder what?" Luke frowned, biting down on his lip.

"Why the Doctor never came back for Sarah Jane," the Dream Lord said, reappearing and placing a hand on Luke's shoulder. Luke jumped out of the way, nearly colliding with the railing. "Why, when he has a time machine, he's never considered going back and saving her."

Luke shook his head. "I know the Doctor, I trust him. He doesn't always give his reasons but I know he has them."

"But what if I told you he could go back and save her?" the Dream Lord asked, thumbing the pockets of his coat.

"I wouldn't believe you," Luke said.

"But what if I was right? Go on, ask him, I dare you," the Dream Lord hissed.

Luke closed his eyes.

"Leave him alone," Amy snapped, stepping in front of Luke.

The Dream Lord shrugged. "Pick a world and this nightmare will all be over."

He vanished.

.

Luke's eyes opened and he jumped up, noticing he was in the attic of their house.

He rubbed his head and groaned. He wasn't sure which he would choose. The freezing TARDIS seemed like the most likely scenario, when he thought about it.

He remembered watching that one science fiction movie with dreams and stuff. The guy in the middle of the movie had said that you don't remember the beginning of a dream, you always wake up in the middle of it.

He racked his mind, trying to remember what he'd been doing before this. Ice cream and deliveries with Rory, and before that...

He couldn't remember.

He thought about the TARDIS, then. What had happened before?

They'd just been talking and he had been playing cards with Amy and Rory. The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt.

So there were no differences to distinguish the town and the TARDIS. Great. How was he supposed to tell the difference?

Unless... but, no. No, one of the worlds had to be real. Besides, he couldn't remember anything but the two worlds.

"It's all right, I had to stop off at the butcher's," the Doctor said, as he crawled through the window.

"What are we going to do?" Luke asked.

"I don't know. I thought the freezing TARDIS was real, but now I'm not so sure."

"I think the baby's starting," Amy said, gasping.

"Honestly?" Rory cried. Luke panicked a bit, realising this time she might actually be serious.

"Would I make it up at a time like this?!" Amy asked.

"Well, you do have a history of..." Rory paused, staring at her as she gave him a look that could kill. "...being very lovely."

Something crashed by the window, and Luke immediately ran to check, shouting out as Mrs. Poggit sprayed him with a strange green mist.

He stumbled backwards with a yelp and Amy immediately shot towards him as the Doctor hit Mrs. Poggit off the roof.

"Luke!" Amy screamed.

Rory covered his face with his hands.

Luke turned to the Doctor as a stinging sensation overtook him. "Doctor? Could you have saved mum?" he whispered.

And then the world went black.

.

Luke woke up at the sound of a very familiar unwelcome voice.

"So...you chose this world. Well done. You got it right. And with only seconds left. Fair's fair. Let's warm you up. I hope you've enjoyed your little fictions. It all came out of your imagination, so, uh, I'll leave you to ponder on that. I have been defeated. I shall withdraw. Farewell."

Luke opened his eyes just in time to see the Dream Lord fade out of existence. He groaned, sitting up as the Doctor ran over to the console.

"What happened?" he moaned, rubbing his arms. "I don't remember..."

Amy looked at him sadly. "You died. Mrs. Poggit gotcha."

"Okay," Luke muttered, blinking. "How'd you know this was the real world?"

Amy shrugged. "We, you know, didn't. Well, know this was the real world. We sort of just... made a last minute choice."

Luke froze, unsure what to think. "OK," was all he could say.

Rory cleared his throat. "S' what are we doing now?"

"Me?" the Doctor asked, bouncing around by the TARDIS console. "I'm going to blow up the TARDIS."

"What?!" Rory shrieked.

"Notice how helpful the Dream Lord was? Okay, there was misinformation, red herrings, malice, and I could have done without the limerick, but he was always very keen to make us choose between dream and reality," he shouted, letting out a loud laugh.

"What are you doing?!" Amy cried, as Luke stared at the Doctor in realisation.

"He's blowing up the TARDIS!" Luke cheered, pumping a fist into the air. "I knew it!"

"Doctor! The Dream Lord conceded. This isn't the dream!" Rory shouted.

"Yes, it is!" Luke agreed cheerfully.

"Stop this!" Amy shouted, grabbing Luke's arm.

"Star burning cold. Do me a favour! The Dream Lord has no power over the real world. He was offering us a choice between two dreams," the Doctor chuckled.

"How do you know that?" Amy hissed.

"Because I know who he is," the Doctor said, turning to look at them and flipping a switch.

.

Luke was back in the TARDIS. Amy and Rory had gone back to their rooms and the Doctor was staring at a fish in a fishbowl.

Luke looked around, confused. "Where did you get the fish from?"

"It's the Queen of Egypt," the Doctor said, frowning at the fish. "No, don't ask. It's a long story."

Luke rolled his eyes.

"Do you know how to pet a fish, Luke?" the Doctor mumbled, staring into the bowl. "Is it even possible to pet a fish?"

"I don't think so, Doctor," Luke muttered, tracing a hand on the metal grille of the TARDIS floor. "There, is, uh, something I wanted to ask you."

"Yes, yes, go on," the Doctor said.

Luke opened his mouth, considering asking the question he'd inquired about before, then thought otherwise.

"Amy and Rory don't like their bunk beds," he said.

"What?" the Doctor spun around. "But bunk beds are cool!"

Luke shook his head. "I'm sure they are, Doctor. G'night."

"Good night," the Doctor said, turning back to his fish bowl and frowning. "No, stop giving me that look! Stop it!" pause, and a gasp. "Don't use that kind of language!"


	8. Chapter 8

Luke sat, as casual as possible, in a seat in a cafe as he watched the Doctor walk up to a waitress.

"Excuse me. Do you know Vincent Van Gogh?" the Doctor asked. Luke rolled his eyes.

It had all started with a painting. The Doctor had taken Amy to an art gallery to see Vincent's paintings, and had noticed something in the painting, cue their materialising here.

"Unfortunately," the waitress responded.

"Unfortunately?" Amy asked, frowning.

"He's drunk, he's mad and he never pays his bills," the waitress said, scoffing slightly.

"Good painter, though, eh?" the Doctor suggested.

Everyone in the cafe promptly burst into laughter, as if this claim was preposterous. Luke looked around, slightly confused.

"Come along, kiddies," the Doctor said, ushering Amy and Luke outside where they ran into a man trying to buy a drink with a painting. Luke frowned. He could see it, now, this was Vincent Van Gogh. Clyde would have a heart attack if he was here. Luke didn't really understand art, it was just clay, coloured paint scribbled in corresponding lines to make images.

"I'll pay, if you like," the Doctor said.

"What?" the manager asked, shocked.

"Well, if you like, I'll pay for the drink. Or I'll pay for the painting and you can use the money to pay for the drink," the Doctor said.

Vincent frowned, asking who the Doctor was. The Doctor simply responded with "Oh, I'm new in town."

"Well, in that case, you don't know three things. One, I pay for my own drinks, thank you. Two, no one ever buys any of my paintings or they would be laughed out of town. So if you want to stay in town, I suggest you keep your cash to yourself. And three, your friend's cute, but you should keep your big nose out of other people's business. Come on, just one more drink. I'll pay tomorrow," Vincent snapped back in response. Luke stared at him, in surprise at his forwardness.

"No," the manager replied simply.

"Oh look, just shut up, the pair of you. I would like a bottle of wine, please, which I will then share with whomever I choose," Amy said, smirking at the expression on Luke's face and giving him a slight wink.

"What do you think, Rory?" Luke asked, turning to the side.

"Huh? Who's Rory?" Amy frowned.

"What?"

"You just said Rory," Amy insisted.

"No, I didn't," Luke frowned.

The Doctor watched the two of them uneasily, before heading into the cafe.

.

After a long-ish conversation in the cafe, Vincent offered to let them stay at his house overnight. They walked into the room. Luke frowned at the sight. It wasn't exactly what he'd expected, and he was a bit confused. Why everyone could love and still hate the same man, confused him.

"Sorry about all the clutter," Vincent apologised. "I've come to accept the only person who's going to love my paintings is me."

"Wow. I mean, really. Wow," Amy said, gawking at the pictures. Vincent misinterpreted her comment.

"Yeah, I know it's a mess. I'll have a proper clear out. I must, I really must," Vincent mumbled.

Luke listened to the two talk for a moment. Vincent had an expression that seemed to be carved onto his face. Luke wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed to be anger, of some kind. There was a sudden interruption after Amy screamed.

The Doctor jumped up. "No, no, no!" the Doctor shrieked, running outside. Luke trailed after him, Vincent in tow.

"Amy? Amy? What happened?" the Doctor asked, grabbing her shoulders as if to calm her better.

"I don't know. I didn't see it. I was having a look at the paintings out here when something hit me from behind!" Amy panicked, speaking all in one breath.

"It's okay. He's gone now and we're here," the Doctor said, soothingly.

Vincent's eyes were wild as he spoke. "No! No!" he shouted.

"Take it easy, take it easy!" the Doctor shouted, as the artist slowly backed away from... nothing at all.

"What's happening? What's he doing?" Amy demanded.

"Do you think he's seeing something?" Luke frowned, watching the man panic and pick up a rather large pitchfork.

"Get back," the Doctor ordered. "He's having some kind of fit. I'll try to calm him down."

Luke scoffed at the Doctor. How typical of him, playing the hero as always.

He blinked, wondering why he was so annoyed with the Doctor. He felt as if the man was hiding something, something he just couldn't seem to remember.

"Easy, Vincent, easy. Look. Look, look, look. It's me, it's me, it's me. It's the Doctor, look. No one else is here."

"Look out!" Vincent screamed, just at the same time the Doctor spoke.

"So, Vincent-" the Doctor started, right before the Time Lord was sent flying with an 'oomph'.

Luke immediately jumped towards the Doctor, helping the older man stand up. He glanced around, confused.

"What is it?" Luke shouted. "What's out there?"

"That is a good question. Let me help you!" the Doctor suggested cheerfully, picking up a pole from the ground.

"You can see him, too?" Vincent asked, sounding slightly desperate.

"Yes. Ish. Well, no. Not really," the Doctor rambled. Luke grinned and went back-to-back with him, a large stick in his hand, as if that would help. He noticed a clothesline along and tugged the string down, the pins falling neatly into his hand. He threw one in the direction Vincent was facing, and behind him the Doctor was sent flying once more.

"You couldn't see him?" Vincent bellowed.

Luke watched, half-amused as the Doctor continued to hit at nothing at all. He threw another pin at the invisible beast, and, noting where it landed, threw his stick at the monster. Vincent met up with his attack by pulling up his pitchfork. Luke watched, amazed as it seemed to stick before it dropped back into Vincent's hands.

Luke threw his last pin and was met with nothing. The creature had vanished.

He turned around, to face the Doctor, who still appeared to be fighting nothing but air. Luke sighed.

"I think he left, Doctor," Luke said.

The Doctor immediately halted in his movements, fixing his posture and straightening himself out. "Oh, right. Yes. Of course."

.

Luke, Vincent, Amy and the Doctor settled down afterwards, Vincent drawing over a picture (much to Amy's and the Doctor's dismay) in order to sketch the creature. The Doctor had gone off to check the picture at the TARDIS and Luke and Amy sat at the table with Vincent, silently regarding the paintings in the house.

"But I don't understand," Luke argued. "I mean, about paintings."

Amy gave him a funny look. "What are you saying?"

"Paintings don't make sense," Luke argued. "I don't understand why people like them so much. Art, too. It's just a bunch of colours and shapes."

Amy bit her lip, thinking. "Okay, kid. Well, think about it this way, yeah? When you look at his pictures... what do you see?"

He furrowed his brow, staring at the fine printed images. "I feel his pain," he finally said. "I can see each brush stroke and each emotion he had when he painted it."

Amy smiled, nodding. "That's what art is. It's a collection of your emotions. Maybe you were drawing a sketch, and that one line was shaky because you were happy. Maybe that one patch of colour was scribbled in fast because you were angry. Whatever it is, there's something in his pictures that has appealed to people for years."

.

After discussing the creature and finally identifying it, the Doctor had gone to check on Vincent and had come back looking very stressed.

"What's the matter?" Luke asked.

The Doctor ignored him, simply walking out of the house back towards where the TARDIS was parked.

"What's happening?" Amy asked, looking at Luke, as if to ask why the Doctor would brush him off like that. Luke just shrugged, genuinely unknowing.

"We're leaving. Everyone knows he's a delicate man. Just months from now he'll, he'll take his own life," the Doctor ranted angrily.

Amy and Luke exchanged looks.

"You can fix him. You fix everything, you save everyone, always. The future can be changed," Luke argued.

"I don't always save everyone," was all the Doctor said.

Luke grabbed his arm. "Go back."

"Please," Amy added. "for me."

Whatever got the Doctor to agree, Luke had no idea.

.

"I'm sorry you're so sad," Amy told Vincent, on the way to the church.

"But I'm not," Vincent replied softly. "Sometimes these moods torture me for weeks, for months. But I'm good now. If Amy Pond can soldier on, then so can Vincent Van Gogh." he offered her a small smile, although Luke could notice that it seemed to be misplaced.

"I'm not soldiering on. I'm fine," Amy said, sounding slightly confused. Luke stared at her, quietly watching a tear drip down her cheek. Still to stunned to say anything to contradict her.

"Oh, Amy. I hear the song of your sadness. You've lost someone, I think," Vincent said quietly.

"I'm not sad!" Amy insisted.

"They why are you crying?" Amy's hand immediately went to her cheek upon mention of crying. When she pulled it away, her hand was indeed wet. Vincent plunged on, kept on talking. "It's all right. I understand."

"I'm not sure I do," was all Amy muttered.

"Okay. Okay. So, now, we must have a plan. When the creature returns, we have to make sure I can see him too," the Doctor said.

"And how are we meant to do that, suddenly?" Amy scoffed, doubt in her voice.

"The answer's in this box!" the Doctor declared, holding up a small wooden box.

Luke nudged Amy in the arm. "Do you think he knows what he's doing?"

Amy smirked. "He never knows what he's doing."

.

Even though the Doctor's instructions had been to stay away, Luke and Amy already knew that that meant "follow me, just don't get yourselves killed". Common knowledge, after all, was that nobody ever listened to him. He just had a face that nobody listened to.

"Doctor!" Amy yelled as they ran into him- quite literally.

"Argh!" the Doctor yelled, frowning. "I thought I told you to- oh, never mind. We'll talk about it later. Quick, in here!" he shoved Luke and Amy into a little box. Luke made a face.

"Awfully dark in here," Luke mumbled.

"And cramped," Amy added.

"Can you breathe a little quieter, please?" the Doctor hissed.

"Only if you get breath mints," Luke teased.

"My breath doesn't smell!" the Doctor said indignantly.

There was a loud smash, and Amy screamed.

"I think he heard us," the Doctor said, just as his side was shaken.

"Good observation!" Luke squeaked, from where he was sandwiched between them.

"That is impressive hearing he's got. What's less impressive are our chances of survival," the Doctor analysed.

There was a shout, and they realised Vincent was distracting the alien. They quickly jumped out of the cramped space, backing up behind Vincent.

They ended up back outside, and Luke shivered as the chilly air bit into his skin.

"Where is he?" the Doctor asked.

"Where do you think he is, you idiot? Use your head," Vincent hissed.

"Duck left!" Vincent shouted, just as the Doctor went flying and hit a wall.

"Right, sorry. Your right, my left," Vincent said, wincing.

"This is no good at all. Run like crazy and regroup," the Doctor barked, just as Vincent went to grab his easel.

"What are you doing?" Amy inquired, as he lifted up the thing.

"Vincent. Vincent, what's happening?" the Doctor snapped.

"It's charging now. Get back. Get back!" Vincent shouted, thrusting the easel up.

There was a loud, awful cry. Luke closed his eyes, as if to shut out the sound, even though there was nothing to see. He had a perfectly fine visual that the sound gave him. It was terrible.

"He wasn't without mercy at all. He was without sight. I didn't mean that to happen. I only meant to wound it, I never meant t-to-" Vincent stuttered, but the Doctor cut him off.

"He's trying to say something," the Doctor murmured. Amy grabbed Luke's hand.

"What is it?"

"I'm having trouble making it out, but I think he's saying, I'm afraid. I'm afraid. There, there. Shush, shush. It's okay, it's okay. You'll be fine. Shush," the Doctor cooed.

Luke looked up at Vincent. He realised, now, that the look he'd seen before that was glued to the painter's face permanently was not anger, but the look a man who was trying to grasp onto his sanity that was slowly slipping away. It was a look of utter despair, and Luke immediately found himself wishing he could forget it, somehow.

"He was frightened, and he lashed out. Like humans who lash out when they're frightened. Like the villagers who scream at me. Like the children who throw stones at me," Vincent whispered.

.

After bidding Vincent farewell, Amy, the Doctor, and Luke were standing outside in the courtyard.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the Doctor blurted. Luke frowned.

"We should have taken the picture he offered us?" Luke suggested.

Amy shook her head. "I was thinking I may need some food or something before we leave."

The Doctor scoffed. "Well, no, you're not thinking exactly what I'm thinking. Vincent! I've got something I'd like to show you. Maybe just tidy yourself up a bit first."

.

Luke realised what the Doctor was doing the instant he saw the TARDIS. He gave the Time Lord a look of question, but the man just nodded at him.

"Vincent, have you ever considered the possibility there might be more to life than normal people imagine?" the Doctor asked. Luke scoffed, of course the answer was obvious.

"Yes," came Vincent's response.

"Well, brace yourself, Vinny!" the Doctor grinned, ushering the painter into the TARDIS.

Luke grinned, watching as Vincent stared at the inside of the TARDIS in shock, then promptly ran back out, examining the TARDISes exterior in surprise, as if there was something to discover there. He returned to the TARDIS a few moments later, analysing the console.

"What do these things all do?" he broke the silence.

"Oh, a huge variety of things. This one here, for instance, plays soothing music. While this one makes a huge amount of noise. And this one makes everything go absolutely tonto," the Doctor grinned.

Luke watched the two of them go on, a grin on his face. He supposed the reason for Vincent's depression was because he believed life was small, but the Doctor had just shown him there was more to life than just living.

"Where are we?" Vincent asked, as the TARDIS quietly landed, the little advertisements glued to the TARDIS burning and flittering along with the wind. Luke watched them, a curious expression on his face.

"Paris, 2010 AD. And this is the mighty Museé D'Orsay, home to many of the greatest paintings in history!" the Doctor exclaimed. Luke smiled, glad to see the Doctor was showing Vincent how much he mattered.

"Oh, that's wonderful," Vincent said.

.

"Doctor Black, we met a few days ago. I asked you about the church at Auvers," the Doctor introduced.

"Oh, yes. Glad to be of help. You were nice about my tie," the man smirked. Luke rolled his eyes. The only man in the world other than the Doctor who thought bow ties were cool. Huh.

"Yes, and today is another cracker if I may say so. But I just wondered, between you and me, in a hundred words, where do you think Van Gogh rates in the history of art?" the Doctor asked. Vincent looked absolutely shocked, and Luke didn't blame him one bit.

"Well, big question, but to me, Van Gogh is the finest painter of them all. Certainly, the most popular great painter of all time. The most beloved. His command of colour, the most magnificent," Doctor Black continued.

As he continued to talk of Vincent's marvels, Luke realised the painter was crying. The Doctor seemed to notice, too, as he spoke. "Vincent. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Is it too much?"

"No. They are tears of joy. Thank you, sir. Thank you," Vincent said, grabbing the man and kissing him on both cheeks.

"You're welcome," Black said, stunned.

"Sorry about the beard," Vincent said.

For a moment, Luke watched Doctor Black stare at Vincent. As if he was realising something. Just for a moment, an odd expression crosed his face, as if he was asking himself a question. _It can't be. It can't be._

He promptly shook the expression off, and Luke smiled, following the Doctor, Amy, and Vincent out.

.

"This changes everything. I'll step out tomorrow with my easel on my back a different man. I still can't believe that one of the haystacks was in the museum. How embarrassing," Vincent rambled. The Doctor smiled, shaking his hand.

"It's been a great adventure and a great honour," he said.

"You've turned out to be the first doctor ever actually to make a difference to my life," Vincent beamed.

"I'm delighted. I won't ever forget you," the Doctor said.

"And you are sure marriage is out of the question?" Vincent asked, turning to Amy.

"This time. I'm not really the marrying kind," Amy smirked.

"We could adopt this one," Vincent smiled, motioning towards Luke.

"No," Amy laughed. "Too much trouble."

At that moment, something crossed his mind. Like... something, something about being adopted by Amy.

And then it was gone, and he felt silly. "Thanks, Vincent," he smiled, wrapping his arms around the painter. Vincent hugged him back, still smiling.

"It's funny how it takes one moment to say hello, but all of time to say goodbye," Luke said.

"Come on. Let's go back to the gallery right now," Amy nudged the Doctor.

.

"Time can be re-written. I know it can. Come on! Oh, the long life of Vincent Van Gogh. There'll be hundreds of new paintings!" Amy insisted.

"I'm not sure there will," the Doctor mused, and when Luke looked at him, he saw an expression on the Time Lord's face he could not read.

.

"So you were right. No new paintings. We didn't make a difference at all," Amy whispered. They'd returned to the gallery, only to discover it had all been for nothing. Hadn't it?

"I wouldn't say that. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Hey. The good things don't always spoil the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant. And we definitely added to his pile of good things. And, if you look carefully, maybe we did indeed make a couple of little changes," the Doctor said, rubbing circles soothingly on Amy's back.

"No monster," Luke said quietly.

"No monsters," the Doctor agreed.

Luke looked up to see Amy admiring a painting with a vase of sunflowers, and he smiled.

Maybe some things did change after all.


End file.
